The Vermont Statutes Online

The word
"pawnbroker" as used in this chapter includes any person,
partnership, or corporation, loaning money on deposit or pledge of personal
property, other than securities or written evidences of indebtedness; or doing
business as furniture storage warehousepersons, and loaning and advancing money
upon goods, wares, or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral security.

§
3862. License required

(a) A person
shall not carry on the business of pawnbroker unless he or she has obtained a
license so to do as hereinafter provided.

(b) The
selectboard members of a town or the aldermen of a city may grant to such
citizens as they deem proper, and who produce satisfactory evidence of their
good character, a license authorizing such citizens to carry on the business of
a pawnbroker. Such license shall designate the place in which such a person
shall carry on such business, and such a person shall not carry on such
business in any other place than the one designated in such license.

(c) A person
who violates a provision of this section shall be fined $10.00 for each day of
such violation. (Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 72.)

§
3863. Fees; bond; revocation of license

A person
receiving such license shall pay therefor the sum of $15.00 annually for the
use of the town. Such license shall expire one year from the date thereof, and
may be renewed on payment of the same sum. At the time of receiving such
license, a licensee shall file a bond to the selectboard members or aldermen of
such town or city, to be executed by the person so licensed, and by two
responsible sureties or a bonding company in the penal sum of $500.00, which
bond shall be conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties and
obligations pertaining to the business so licensed, and the selectboard members
or aldermen may revoke such license for cause. (Amended 2013, No. 161 (Adj.
Sess.), § 72.)

§
3864. Action on bond

If a person is
aggrieved by the misconduct of such licensed pawnbroker, and recovers judgment
against him or her therefor, after the return, unsatisfied, either in whole or
in part, of an execution issued upon such judgment, such person may maintain an
action in his or her own name upon the bond of such pawnbroker, provided the
court, upon application made for that purpose, shall grant such leave to
prosecute.

§
3865. Records of a pawnbroker

(a) In each
year a pawnbroker makes loans or advances totaling over $2,500.00 for items
pledged or deposited with the pawnbroker, he or she shall maintain the
following records for each transaction in that year:

(1) a legible
statement written at the time of the transaction stating the amount of money
lent or advanced for the items, the time of the transaction, and the rate of
interest to be paid, as applicable;

(2) a legible
statement of the name, current address, telephone number, and vehicle license
number of the person pledging or depositing the items;

(3) a legible
written description and photograph, or alternatively a video, of the items;

(4) a
photocopy of a government-issued identification card issued to the person
pledging or depositing the items, if available.

(b) At all
reasonable times, the records required under subsection (a) of this section
shall be open to the inspection of law enforcement. A law enforcement agency
shall make a reasonable effort to notify a pawnbroker before conducting an
inspection pursuant to this section unless providing notice would interfere
with a criminal investigation or any other legitimate law enforcement purpose.

At the time of
making a loan, a pawnbroker shall deliver to the person pawning or pledging any
goods, articles, or things, a memorandum or note signed by him or her,
containing the substance of the entry required to be made in his or her book by
section 3865 of this title, and a charge shall not be made or received by the
pawnbroker for such entry, memorandum, or note. The holder of such memorandum
or note shall be presumed to be the person entitled to redeem the pledge, and
the pawnbroker shall deliver such article to the person so presenting such
memorandum or note on payment of principal and interest. Should such ticket be
lost or mislaid, the pawnor shall at once apply to the pawnbroker describing
the article pawned, in which case it shall be the duty of the pawnbroker to
permit such person to examine his or her books, and, on finding the entry for
such ticket, note, or memorandum so lost, the pawnbroker shall issue a second
or stop ticket for the same. In case such pawnor neglects so to apply and
examine such books and receive such memorandum or note in the manner herein
provided, the pawnbroker shall deliver the pledge to any person producing such
original ticket for the redemption thereof. This section shall not be so
construed as to limit or affect such pawnbroker's common law liability in cases
where goods are stolen or other legal defects of title in the pledgor exist.

§
3867. Rate of interest on loans

A pawnbroker
shall not demand or receive a greater rate of interest than five percent per
month or fraction of a month upon a loan not exceeding the sum of $50.00, nor
more than three percent per month upon a loan exceeding the sum of $50.00;
provided a charge of less than $0.15 shall not be made on any loan or pledge.

§
3868. Sale of pawned property

A pawnbroker
shall not sell pawned or pledged property until the same has remained six
months in his or her possession without redemption, and upon such sale, shall
keep a record of the date of such sale, the name and address of the purchaser,
and the price paid, and such record shall be subject to inspection as other
records of such pawnbroker.

§
3869. Application of proceeds of sale

Surplus money,
if any, arising from such sale, after deducting the amount of the loan and the
interest then due on the same, shall be paid over after three months by the
pawnbroker to the person who would be entitled to redeem the pledge in case
such sale had not taken place.

§
3870. Pawning property of persons under eighteen

A person
carrying on the business of pawnbroker in this State shall not accept a pledge
or article of personal property offered by a person under 18 years of age,
without written authority of the parents or guardians of such minor.

§
3871. Penalties

(a) A licensee
who violates a provision of sections 3863-3864 or 3866-3870 of this title shall
be fined not more than $100.00 nor less than $10.00 for each offense.

(b) A
pawnbroker or precious metal dealer who violates a provision of section 3865 or
3872 of this chapter:

(1) may be
assessed a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 for a first violation; and

(2) shall be
fined not more than $25,000.00 for a second or subsequent violation. (Amended
2013, No. 75, § 22a, eff. June 5, 2013.)